is hockey even worth watching???????
Posted 2:18 AM ET | Comments 8
i starting writing a blog last post season about the problem of nhl officials. this season i feel i need to bring it up again. last season's playoff was racked by inconsistency....from the officials. my belief is, if the rules are there, abide by them. the regular season saw many penalties for minor things. post season, you would have to cut someone's throat with a skate to get a call.
but the real problem this season is that the game of hockey is becoming a farce....thanks entirely to the nhl officials. games are rarely won by players skill and teamwork, or even by the coaching staff to put the right combinations out there and to build chemistry. the game is decided by the moods of the refs. numerous, numerous, numerous times this season alone i've seen games ruined because of this "intent to blow the whistle" rule. here is a little exercise for ya....how fast can you raise your left hand to your mouth? how slow can you? notice the time difference? well, there's your game right there. in that short time frame (or long time frame) that 1 or 2 crucial points is in the hands of the refs. i watched an avs game a few days ago where the ref blew the play dead because he lost sight of the puck. the puck was already a foot over the line. its was ruled dead because of intent. on replay, with how close the player was who scored, and how fast it was shot, the "intent" would have to have been there before the shot was even made. impossible. was his arm broken? was he scratching he junk? was he texting? you can't have "intent" take that long.
i asked myself last post season if it would be the final one i would ever watch, in protest of the officiating. and it was for different reasons. and those reasons are still there, and now have more added on. i can get into a game that is not won by the players. i feel like its a waste of my time and money. i would encourage all of you to write into the nhloa (officials association). voice your complaint. you know your teams has been had by this problem before, and it won't go away unless we do something about it.
but the real problem this season is that the game of hockey is becoming a farce....thanks entirely to the nhl officials. games are rarely won by players skill and teamwork, or even by the coaching staff to put the right combinations out there and to build chemistry. the game is decided by the moods of the refs. numerous, numerous, numerous times this season alone i've seen games ruined because of this "intent to blow the whistle" rule. here is a little exercise for ya....how fast can you raise your left hand to your mouth? how slow can you? notice the time difference? well, there's your game right there. in that short time frame (or long time frame) that 1 or 2 crucial points is in the hands of the refs. i watched an avs game a few days ago where the ref blew the play dead because he lost sight of the puck. the puck was already a foot over the line. its was ruled dead because of intent. on replay, with how close the player was who scored, and how fast it was shot, the "intent" would have to have been there before the shot was even made. impossible. was his arm broken? was he scratching he junk? was he texting? you can't have "intent" take that long.
i asked myself last post season if it would be the final one i would ever watch, in protest of the officiating. and it was for different reasons. and those reasons are still there, and now have more added on. i can get into a game that is not won by the players. i feel like its a waste of my time and money. i would encourage all of you to write into the nhloa (officials association). voice your complaint. you know your teams has been had by this problem before, and it won't go away unless we do something about it.
I do agree with you. However, I am at the point now where I just sigh and continue watching. I go into each game knowing there is going to be bad calls on each side. Your team will win games because of bad calls, and your team will lose because of bad calls.. I really do think they even out. Does that make it acceptable? of course not, but the game is changing, and so is the officiating. It's just something we're going to have to deal with.
true, but that is something that can be changed.
As a former official myself (in soccer), I know that refs call the game to the best of their ability, but it is impossible to get every call correct. Every team is going to get bad calls, it happens, life goes on. A few bad calls can effect a game, but it happens to everyone, and that is why there are 82 games in a season. The way I see it, refs are not there to get every call correct, they are there as an "unbiased opinion" to call the game to the best of their ability, and to call the game consistently.
true...but the intent rule is not about unbiased calls. i understand that bad calls happen, and that no calls happen. but this is a rule that puts a large gray area into the mix. its the only rule that will kill a play before its happened. to me, that seems dumb. what's the point of the goalie judge then? seems like money wasted.
great blog. i completely agree..and no one has the balls ot say it but the cup was rigged
Because 29 other organizations wouldn't have a problem with the Cup being rigged. [rolls eyes]
Intent to blow the whistle is the asinine call imaginable. But there are so many questionable calls any more. The last time I actually SAW hooking in progress on the ice was when Wade Belak hooked a guy between the legs. other than that, you get the stick anywhere close to the side of the person and its hooking. Give me a break. I know this is the hardest sport on the planet to call, but I feel the old NHL was at least a LITTLE more consistent than the post-lockout NHL.
I'm sure that a majority of officials try to call an "unbiased" game but you can't tell me that refs don't like certain players or have been warned and make calls against certain players because of reputation. Yes I am speaking of Avery though he isn't the only one. And yes the player does bring that upon himself to a degree but the refs are not always unbiased. They can't be; they're human.